Lale didn’t flinch. She leaned back slightly, her smirk confident and unwavering. “Yes,” she said plainly. “You’re ambitious, Santiago. More than most. With me by your side, as your wife, you won’t just be some roadside Mafia lord pulling strings in the shadows. You’ll be king.”
Santiago’s expression didn’t change, but his fingers stopped tapping on the desk. She had his attention, but he wasn’t going to let her see it. “King,” he echoed, his tone flat. “That’s quite the pitch.”
“It’s not a pitch,” Lale corrected, her voice steady. “It’s a fact. You’ve built your empire here, from the ground up. You’re powerful, yes, but imagine this.” She gestured to the folder he had just closed. “With my connections, my resources, my people, you won’t just rule from your end. You’ll rule from mine as
